Sumi Sushi

My dear friend, Yuhki (different from Yuki), will be departing from Taiwan soon. So for brunch I joined him at NY Bagel in the Taipei Main station Q Squared mall today. He'll be leaving for Japan this coming Saturday. So we talked and had a nice brunch, possible our last one before he leaves. Yet another fellow student from Shida University MTC leaving :(. After saying our farewells, Yuki (not Yuhki) and I headed to the Huasan Creative Park 1914 because she has never been there. In fact I have never been there during the day. It was bustling with people and most of the stores were open. So this was my first opportunity to explore the book store and gift shops it offered. I really like the gift stores. They have a lot of unique and creative Taiwanese designed gifts. Afterward I headed to the Eslite bookstore on Zhongxiao East Road. They have a jewelry, clothing and gift shops on the basement and 1st floor. The second floor was the books. Pretty big, but not nearly as large as the Xinyi district one I visited yesterday. Yuki and I just went there to kill time before heading off to Sumi Sushi for dinner. They opened at 5:30 and we were running early. Sumi Sushi is just south of the S.Y.S Memorial MRT station. The owners are very nice. Not only are they friendly, but they can speak English too. They're Taiwanese but immigrated back to Taiwan from Vancouver, Canada. This place has some great Maki rolls and they're glad to recommend a roll or two for you. They even have a $1000 NT option to create a set menu for you with only the sushi you like. It was a little expensive for me on a student budget at the moment, so I passed. I stuck with a la cart. We had a braised salmon special, spider roll, Hokkaido raw scallop special and a special California roll. Yes, california roll. Yuki likes it because they don't have that in Japan, so it's a foreign oddity. A Japanese person that likes California rolls, go figure LOL? But this California roll was custom for us. I like Herring Roe and she likes California roll. So he combined the two, so awesome! How many sushi places do that? On the flip side though, the place was a bit tiny though. Maximum of approximately ~14 patrons. But that sort of makes for a more comfortable and quaint environment. No other patrons came in while we were there, probably because it was an early dinner, making it a nice private affair. I'll definitely try to make it out there again, and maybe try the $1000 set. Tomorrow, i'm heading to Tainan, there will be a lot to blog about there!

MiaoLi grave sweeping & Luminaries 2011

Today I went with my parents and other relatives to my grandfathers home in MiaoLi for grave sweeping day. It's a chinese tradition to come and clean the grave site of our ancestors. We then prayed for them and did the ritual "wish" to our ancestors as well as burning of money for the afterlife. Afterwards, we headed in to town and had a traditional Hakka lunch. This was my first time to have a Hakka only meal. It's hard to differentiate the different between Hakka cuisine and chinese cuisine, but being that MiaoLi is full of Hakka people, this was definitely the real deal. That and of course I trust my dad's opinion on the matter. So it was a real treat and now I can better recognize Hakka cuisine when I see and taste it. After coming back and doing some laundry, it was already time for dinner. So Yuki and I headed over for some cheap sushi at Sushi Express near the Zhongxiao Dunhua MRT station. I must say, it's mediocre at best. But at least it's not making me sick. I still give it a good review though. Why? because it's $30 NT a dish. At two pieces of sushi per dish, that's $.50 cents each piece. I can't get a can of Coke for that cheap in the states. So if you need to satisfy your craving for Sushi on a budget without getting stomach sickness, try out Sushi Express. But if your craving the quality stuff, this is not the place. After wards we made a quick run through the Taipei Luminaries 2011 festival at Chang-Kai Shek memorial hall. Then onwards to the Eslite mega bookstore at Xin Yi district (next to 101). I ended up purchasing a Taiwanese cook book. It was cheap, simple, in English and a good start to chinese style cuisine. So expect some of my culinary creations soon.

Maokong and Shin Yeh

Today, I tagged along with Yuki showing her friend from Japan around Maokong. We headed to the Maokong Gondola station and headed back up the mountain to the same tea house as last time. It's called Yao Yue (邀月茶坊) teahouse. They remembered us from a few weeks ago, which was nice. So they gave us a 10% discount. The waiter, same as last time also, escorted us to another picnic table with a view and an umbrella. Out of all the dishes we ordered, the blackened chicken with ginger and fried tofu were by far the best! I'm usually not a fan of ginger. But the spices they used to cook the ginger made it taste salty/sweet. We ended up eating ginger pieces like potato chips! Of course, we ordered the bamboo in tea oil dish too. Thats a must and one of Yuki and I's favorites. Afterwards, I joined my family and relatives for another AYCE stomach busting adventure at the Shin Yeh japanese buffet on the 5th floor of the Shin Yi Shin Kong Mitsukoshi(新光三越) A11 building. I'm still thinking about that ginger chicken..hehe. I want some more!

Secret

Last day of class. All we did was eat snacks and watch a movie called "Secret", which is a pretty good movie about a student that falls in love with a girl student. But they can't be together because of a secret that she cannot reveal to him. There's some fictional magic in there, so it makes it that much more dramatic. I can't describe it any more or it'll reveal the ending. But definitely watch this movie with a significant other. It's a great romance movie. Don't get me wrong, I love action and adventure movies too, but it's hard to accept Taiwan culture without also accepting their romance movies. This is probably a good time to also say that I'm dating someone here in Taipei. She's Japanese and if you've been following my blog, her name is Yuki. My family knows, my classmates know and so now the rest of the world now knows. Surprise! Haha, Anyways...after class, I had a dinner party with my good friend from Germany, Hanya. She's so friendly and full of life. She's such a great friend to have around and she has to return back to Germany. Taiwan and I will miss her. You really get to meet so many colorful personalities from around world here at Shida, and IT IS SO AWESOME! But the hardest part is really saying Bye to them, as not all can stay forever. See you later Hanya, contact me when you return or if I visit Germany :)

Oola Mexican Grill (Gongguan)

Today, while browsing through the internet before class, I discovered a hidden mexican food place near Gongguan. So I decided to visit this place after class. It's hard to find. It was literally down a dark alley, behind other buildings and a large movie theater. But once I found it, it was brightly lit up with the name Oola Mexican Grill across the top. It's a two floor eatery. Tonight the top floor was busy with teenagers while the downstairs tables remained more quiet and comfortable. So I opted to stay on ground floor. I ordered a burrito barbacao and my partner in crime ordered a chicken burrito. Prices range from $170-200 a person + $50 for drinks & chips. Hands down the best burrito i've had so far in Taipei. And I'm kinda glad I found another place for my south of the border cravings. My two other options either closed down (Taco Bar) or a little on the expensive side (Aunt Nitti's). Only three vital things were missing; refried beans or black beans in my burrito, it was not mexican rice (jasmine doesn't cut it), and no Cholula hot sauce. OK one more, no Lengua (beef tongue). Lengua is the bomb! But I have to give it to them, mexican food doesn't seem to have a strong demand in Taipei and their salsa was very good! And to all you authentic Mexican foodies out there, I know burritos are an American invention. But when I say Mexican, I mean California-Mexican (Fresh-mex). Oola also has a build your own burrito/taco too. All in all, an excellent restaurant and it's bumped to the top of my list for Mexican food in Taipei. Oh one last thing, students get a 10% discount so bring your ID's!!!

RaoHe night market

Tonight I visited the RaoHe night market. OMG, this night market is the bomb! Not only does it have a clothing warehouse next to it. But It also has a dramatic and beautiful temple next to the entrance/gate. First, the clothing warehouse is where a lot of the venders get their clothes from. Usually this would only be for business venders, like in the USA or Japan, because that would just ruin the sales for the venders if the customers knew their source. But in Taiwan, it's also open to the public. And this place is huge! I got lost in it. The clothes are pretty affordable, not cheap, but cheaper than what you'd find at the other night markets. There was a shirt at Shida that I was looking at for $800. I found the same one at this warehouse for $390 NT. The styles they have here is really great too.It's more of a Shida/Ximen style, which appeals to the 16-30 year olds. YongLe yesterday was pretty good, but due to the cheaper prices, the style suffered alittle. Not at this warehouse. This is a must must revisit. Moving on to RaoHe night market. The place isn't that big, one street length. But they have food that I haven't seen at other night markets. They have a Thai banana crepe thing. It's banana in crepe, then pan fried. Soo frigid' delicious! I had a Thai iced tea to go with it. Then I also found a Indian Pakistani restaurant. I ordered grilled masala chicken. It was extremely good. And they had Chai tea. Finally, I get my Chai tea in Taiwan! Third, we found a cart serving Beijing style Lamb kebab. We didn't try any because we wanted to save that for next visit. But since we saw several people eating this, I figure it's a must be good. When I'm just about getting bored with night market food, Taipei pulls another ace out of it's sleeves. Bravo Raohe night market! I'm coming back for you. Good night everyone!

Lehua night market

Tonight I visited Lehua night market because I got a tip that they had some cheap jeans there. I went there kind of late on weekday evening. So it was pretty empty, not crowded at all. Still, most of the shops and food stands were open. The streets are very wide and I suspect this allows the crowds to move around with a better flow during rush time. But I was content with just browsing around and killing time. The tip was good. I did find a few shops that sold some extremely cheap jeans, like around $400 NT. Ridiculous! That's $12 USD! OK, I don't need jeans THAT cheap. The $400 pairs were not that nice either. But they do have JD, which is a brand I have purchased before. They're not bad. I paid $1500 at Shilin and they were $980 here in Lehua. So this definitely warrants a revisit when I'm in the mood to buy another pair of jeans.

Hakka breakfast

This morning my Dad introduced me to a traditional market hidden south of the XinSheng MRT station. It's a famous old market and there's plenty of people there buying their weekly vegetables and meats. But we were there to experience a single special little Hakka restaurant. Well more like a food stall/store front obviously since it's a traditional market. We had a hakka breakfast. I don't remember the dishes names, but hopefully i'll remember what it is when I read it on the menu board next time I visit. No pictures either. But at least I have the address. It's at the Northwest corner, cross street of Section 2, XinYi Rd. and Section 1, JinSan South Rd.

Ikki near Nanjing South MRT

Tonight I went to a very nice japanese restaurant, Ikki, with my family and Yuki near the Nanjing South MRT station. It's pretty dark inside with reflective black walls, ceiling, table and chairs. The walk way is illuminated from below with neon red lights. The restaurant gives off a very moody and secret atmosphere. I went for dinner and they only have two set menus. One $800, one $1250. The food was spectacular! With the exception of the fruit, which my Mom though was not that sweet, the set dishes were delicious. There was sashimi, rack of lamb, japanese version of carpaccio…etc. The waitress service was very very kind and attentive.They even asked us if we were full. If we weren't, they would provide extra food to fill our stomach up the rest of the way. Which I'm guessing would have been free of cost. Wow! This is an excellent place to bring the family for some nice dining, or a date if you have the finances to support it. I just can't justify it myself as a student right now. So Thank you Mom & Dad! BTW this is one of my Mom's favorite restaurants. She's been here three times. So tonight's entry, is my Mom's recommendation. Enjoy the delicious photos!

Laetitia

Tonight me and two of my other friends visited a local and hidden pastry puff shop near the Zhongxiao Dunhua area. I'm sure if you google it, you can find it. It's called Laetitia. Tiny little shop with some awesome cream puff desserts. Story goes, the owner came from Japan and realized there was a void in the market for incredible delicious cream puff desserts in Taipei. So he opened up a shop and business boomed. Now it's a tiny Taipei jewel of a place. Take a visit after dinner like I did. After my dinner of some tasty dumplings in hot oil (紅油水餃), a coffee cream puff and chocolate pudding hit the spot. Thank you Laetitia! http://www.laetitia.com.tw